Gun-carriage.



No. 817,841. PATBNTED APR. 1'7, 1906.

A. H. BMBRY.

GUN CARRIAGE.

APPLICATION mam APRJI. 1904.

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Inventor MAVW ,2

omeys.

Witnesses:

No. 817,841. PATENTED APR. 17, 1906.

A. H. EMERY. GUN CARRIAGE.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 11. 1904.

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Witnesses No. 817,841. PATENTED APR. 17, 1906.

A. H. EMERY.

GUN CARRIAGE. APPLIOATION FILED APR. 11, 1904.

9 SHEBTSr-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES INVENTOH A 7TOHNEY6'.

No. 817,841. PATENTED APR. 17, 1906.

A. H. EMERY.

GUN CARRIAGE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 11. 1904.

9 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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//V VENTOH: W94 W BY ATTOHNEYS- PATENTED APR. 1'7, 1906. A. H. EMERY. vGUN CARRIAGE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 11. 1904.

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No. 817,841. PATENTED APR. 17, 1906. A. H. EMBRY.

GUN CARRIAGE.

APPLIOATION FILED APR.11. 1904.

9 SHEETS-SHEET e.

WITNESSES IN VENTOH A TTOBNEYS No. 817,841. PATENTED APR. 17, 1906.

A. H. EMERY.

GUN CARRIAGE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.11. 1904. v

o SHEETS-SHEET 7.

INVENTOH W/ TNE SSE S No. 817,841. I PATENTED APR. 17', 1906.

A. H. EMERY.

GUN CARRIAGE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.11. 1904.

9 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

No. 817,841. PATENTED APR.17, 1906.

A. H. EMERY. I

GUN CARRIAGE.

APPLIOATION FILED APR.11. 1904.

, 9 SHEETS-SHEET 9.

W 66i 663-3 6 ea fia'emg ALBERT H. EMERY, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

GUN-CARRIAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 1 7, 1906.

Application filed April 11, 1904;. Serial No. 202,608.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT H. EMERY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Stamford, in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGun-Carriages, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to guns mounted on what are termedelevatedor.disappearing gun-carriages in which elevating-rods are usedto control the angle of elevation of the gun and in which links are usedto raise the gun from loading to firingposition. It is applicable ingeneral to guns mounted on a link system for elevating and is shown asapplied to a carriage where there are a pair of elevating-links to raisethe gun.

My invention relates, first, to making the elevating-rods adjustable inlength, they having a fixed length while the gun is moving from loadingto firing position, but a variable length under the large strains putupon them while the gun is returning under recoil, but remain at anormal length if the gun is lowered to loading position without firing.

My invention relates also to improvements for operating theseelevating-rods and in providing adjustable stops to control the angle ofelevation of the links that they may have different inclinations whenthe gun is fired at different angles of elevation, so as to keep theaxis of the gun as nearly normal to the plane of the link system as ispracticable at time of firing for reducing as far as practicable thelongitudinal strain on these links and consequent strain upon thecarriage.

My invention relates also to the method of operating these stops by thesame driving mechanism which operates the parts which control, theposition, of the elevating-rods to fix the angle of elevation of the gunfor firing.

My invention will be more fully described in the following specificationand claims.

My invention is illustrated in the several sheets of drawings, in whichFigure 1 shows the main part of the carriage above the bed-plate, whichrests on the foundations, and shows a pair of coupled links to which asaddle is secured, in which the gun rests through its trunnions, thedrawing showing a side elevation of these parts, including a largeportion of the gun mounted thereon. Fig. 2 shows a plan of the same, inWhich the outlines only of the gun are shown in dotted lines. Fig. 3shows a side elevation of the bed-plate, main body of the carriage,

with the upper portion of the cylinder on which the main body of thecarriage rests and in which the elevating mechanism is carried. Fig. 4shows one of the compound elevating-rods. Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 showdetails.of this rod. Figs. 10, 11, and 12 show a plan, side, and frontelevations of some of the mechanism for positioning the lower end of theelevating-rods to fiX the angle of elevation of the gun. Fig. 13 shows aplan of a part of the carriage with the mechanism which drives theseelevating-rods, together with a portion of the mechanism which connectsthis driving mechanism with the adjustable stops previouslymentioned.Figs. 14

and 15 show some of the details for moving the elevating-rods toposition and at the same time moving the adjustable stops to thecorresponding position desired. Fig. 16 shows a plan of thedriving-piston, which is shown in Fig. 3 and which carries theadjustable stops and the uptake-buffers. Fig. 17 shows a side elevationof this piston with one of the uptake-buifers in section, a smallportion of the carriage-body, and the foundations and the guide-rollers,which keep the carriage from tipping, and some of the gearing whichconnects the, elevating mechanism. Fig. 18 shows a side elevation ofthis piston, partly in section, with a section of one of theuptakebuffers; Figs. 19 and 20 show some details of the uptake-buffer.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, 1 shows the main bedplate resting on the masonry.2 shows the upper part of the cylinder, which contains most of themechanism for raising the gun to firing position. 3 is the carria e-bodyresting on this cylinder, to which 1t is securely bolted. 4 and 5 arethe coupled links which are trunnioned to the carriage-body by pins 6and to the saddle 7 by the pins 8. The gun 10 rests by its trunnions 11in the saddle 7. It carries on the breech a two-part band 12, securelybolted together, to which are trunnioned a pair of elevating-rods 13 bypins 9, as shown in Fig. 9. The lower end 14 of the rod 13 is trunnionedto the shoe 15 by the pin 16, which is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 10.v

The shoe 15 is a compound piece, (best made of bronze,) the two partsbeing secured together by bolts 17 and 18. The shoes move up and down intwo steel guides 19 and 20. (Best shown in Figs. 10,11, and 12.) On theupper ends of the shoes 15 are secured index-plates 21, which show theangle of elevation of the gun as pointed out by the indi cator-plate 22.The shoes 15 carry trunnion-nuts 23, through which the elevatingscrews24 pass. These screws are secured in the beam 25, which rests in bronzebushings 26 in the carriage-body 3. (See Fig. 15.) They are driven bythe bevel-gears 27, which are keyed to the shafts 28 and driven directlyby the cranks 29, placed on the ends thereof, or with greater force andless speed through the gears 30 and pinions 31 when the cranks areplaced on shafts 32. (See Fig. 13.) As the shoe 15 moves up and down inthe circular path on 19, which has a center at the pin 9, the beam 25has a slight rotary motion in its bearings, which are constructed topermit this motion. The outer ends of the beam 25 carry gears 33, drivenby the gears 30. These gears 33 are secured on the beam 25 through thecollars 34 on the bearings 34, which are fixed in the ends of the beam25 and secured there by the collars 35, held in place by the screw 36.The gears 33 carry bevel-gears 37, which drive gears 38, keyed to theshafts 39, which operate the gears and 41, which are doweled to the respective shafts 39 and 42 by splines 43. The shaft 42 rests in bushingsin the sleeve 44, secured in the carriage-body 3. This shaft drives thegear 45, secured at its inner end. This in turn drives the gear 46 onthe vertical shaft 47. (See Figs. 13, 14, and 17.) The shaft 47 issecurely set and fixed against longitudinal motion in the cylinder head48,

ortions of which only are shown in Figs. 17 and 18 and Fig. 13. Theseparts are shown in duplicate in Figs. 2 and 13. The moving piston 49 isshown in Figs. 3, 16, 17, and 18 trunnioned to the piston-rod 50 by apin 51 and to the yoke-beam 52 by a pin 53, this yokebeam beingtrunnioned to the elevating-links 4 and 5 by the pins 54 and 55,respectively. The piston 49 moves up to lift the gun to firing position,which it does through the piston-rod 50, yokebeam 52, links 4 and 5, andsaddle 7, the elevation the gun is to have being determined by theposition of the lower end of the elevating-rods 13. When the gun is tobe fired at low elevation, the links are allowed to rise until theyreach the vertical position and pass some degrees by that, when theadjustable stops before mentioned stop the further upward motion of thepiston 49 and fix the position of the links. When the gun is to be firedat the maximum elevation, these links are stopped in their upwardmovement several degrees before they reach the vertical position byreason of the stop-nuts having been adjusted to stop at the right placeto bring about this eifect. The result is that the gun when fired hasits axis but a few degrees from the normal of the plane of thelifting-links, and thus in firing gives much less strain to the linksthan would have been done had they been vertical or past the vertical intheir upward movementwhen the gun is fired at large angle of elevation.For convenience in controlling the angle of elevation of these links themechanism which drives the shoes on the lower end of the elevatingrodsto fix their position and determine the elevation of the gun also drivesthe vertical shafts 47 as previously described, to operate and determinethe position of the stop-nuts 56, carried by the rods 57, firmly securedto the cylinder-head 48. These geared nuts 56 are driven by the pinions58, carried on the vertical shaft 47, to which they are splined. (SeeFig. 18.) The gears 56 and pinions 58 are carried between thehousing-plates 59, separated from each other by studs 60. Their positionis determined by the position of the geared nuts 56 on the screw-rods57. To the piston 49 (see Figs. 17, 18, 19, 20) are secured thebuffer-cylinders 61 by screws 62. (Shown only in Fig. 16, which figureshows the outline of one set of the housing-plates 59 and theirseparating-studs 60.) These uptakebuffers each carry a piston-rod 63,with an enlarged head 63*, which fills the cylinder in which it runs.This head has the usual bypass to allow the li uid to pass freelythrough it when it ascen s; but these valves are closed when it descendsand the liquid is forced through the throttling-bars 64. On the upperends of the piston-rod 63 are crossheads 65, secured in position by thenuts 66, at the bottom of which is a packing 67 to seal the openingthrough the stem 63. Around the four stop-rods 57 which carry thestopnuts 56, are springs 68, which act continually to try to carry thepiston 63 to its uppermost position in the press-cylinder 61, and whichthey do whenever the piston 49 moves away from the stop-nuts 56sufficiently far to permit. The cylinders of these two uptakebuffers arekept constantly full of liquid supplied by the cisterns 69, carried onthe piston 49. (See Figs. 16 and 17.) These cisterns are connected bythe pipe 70 ,with each other and by the pipe 71 with thebuffercylinders. The pipe 72 (shown only in Fig. 16) is made to connectthe high-pressure side of these two buffer-cylinders to equalize thepressure between them. The springs 68 have between them and the threadedstoprods 57 a brass sleeve 73 to protect the threads on the rods andkeep the springs in position.

One of the compound elevating-rods 13 (shown complete in Fig. 4 and inposition in Figs. 1 and 2 only) is shown in detail in Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8,and 9. This rod has a three-part case 13*, 13 and 13", parts 13 and 13being secured together by 13. The lower end 14 of the rod 13, which istrunnioned to the Y shoe 15, as before mentioned, by the pin 16, hasscrewed into its upper end a rod 74, around which are spiral springs 75and 76. The upper end of this rod is doweled to a piece 77 by thedowel-pin 78. Screwed into this piece 77 is ahollow rod 79, doweledthereto by the pin 80. The upper end ofthis rod 79 carries a nut 81 andwasher 82. Around the rod 79 are two springs 75 and 76. They restbetween the two washers 82 and 83. The first-mentioned pair of springs75 and 76 rest between the two washers 84 and 85. These washers all restsecurely against shoulders in the rods, as will be seen by reference tothe drawings. The lower shoulder, against which the washers 85 rest, ismade of a separate piece 86, screwed on the lower end of 13 (See Fig.5.) The springs 75 and 76 are made of such length that when assembled inthe rod they are all under heavy compression. It will be noticed that apair of these rods will thus carry four of the springs 75 and four ofthe springs 76, the combined loads of which all hold the rods to theexact length at which they are constructed for normal use, except when astrain is put upon the rods to extend or compress them but when suchstrain becomes greater than the combined load on these springs, whethertension or compression, the rods will be lengthened or shortened,respectively, and as they are lengthened or shortened the spring-loadsbecome comparatively increased and will be con stantly working to bringthe rods to normal length. The effect of this construction of these rodsis to permit the gun to retain at the moment of fire its axis in theangle at which it is fired and to move back the slight distance it movesbefore the shot has left it nearly in a straight line instead of thecurved line in which it passed when being moved u to firing position. Tomove back in this direction, it must elongate these rods, whichtheirco-nstruction permits, and the load on the springs in these rodsconstantly tends to bring the gun back to moving in the curve which ithad when rising to firing position.

' being scarcely fille In the rods shown springs'75 and 76 have notsuflicient power to properly control the motion of the gun duringrecoil,and they are aided by hydraulic presses, (shown in the part of the rodsmarked 13.) Thesepresses' have each an unpacked piston 87. The cylindersaround these pistons are filled by removing the sealin -screws 88, thechamber to allow room for expansion of the oil. The pistons 87 have ontheir exterior grooves 89. They each carry six loaded valves 90, threeacting in onedirection and three in the other. They are loaded by thesprings 91 around their stems. They are put in place by moving thevalve-seats 92. The rods 14 are made in two parts 14 and 14, which areconnected by being do more readily,

permit the liquid to pass freely from one side to the other withoutpressure except that due to the velocity of flow. The effect of this isthat whenever the elevating-rod is quickly changed in length only a verysmall portion of liquid will pass through the small by-pass, theremainder having to pass through the valves 90, which being heavilyloaded add to the flow resistance of the liquid the spring-loads onthese valves, thus making the liquid trying to pass the pistons give alarge pressure to aid the springs in bringing the gun in its recoil-pathtoward the path it made in ascending to firing position. The combinedeffect of the liquid and spring-pressure on these rods is to quicklygive sufficient rotation to the gun to allow it to descend in itsdownward path without further increase of the length of the rods; butthis rotation of the gun on its trunnions will then tend to shorten therod and would do so too quickly under the combined action of its rotarymomentum and the load on the springs and 76 were it not that the liquidin the press having to pass through the loaded valves in the oppositedirection prevents this too rapid shortening. Notwithstanding thisreverse action of the pressures the motion of the gun continues not onlyuntil the rods have attained their normallength, but until they havebeen considerably shortened, when the springs again exert their force tobring therods to their normal length, which they now owing to the slowermotion of the gun. The load on the springs and. the pressure-load on theliquid in the presses should be so adjusted that with the maximumcharges allowed in firing the gun the rod will not quite reach eitherthe extreme length permitted for either tension or compression. The rods14 have a packing. 95, held in position by a gland 96, constantly loadedby the spring 97. The packings 98 around the rods 14 are made tight bythe glands 99, aided somewhat by a secondar packing 100, which is loadedby the gland 101.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as newtherein:

1. In a gun-carriage, an elevating-rod of variable length controllingthe angle of elevation of the gun and having means'holding it at normallength, which yield under abnor mall loads imposed upon the rod duringreco1 2. In a gun-carriage, an elevating-rod controlling the angle ofelevation of the gun, automatically extensible under abnormal strains oftension applied theret y 3. In agun-carriage, an elevating-rod con- ICCtrolling the angle of elevation of the gun, automatically reducible inlength under abnormal loads applied thereto.

4. In a gun-carriage, an elevating-rod controlling the angle ofelevation of the gun automatically extending under abnormal tension andautomatically shortening under abnormal loads of compression imposedupon it.

5. In a gun-carriage, a rod controlling the angle of elevation of thegun, automatically extending under abnormal loads of tension imposedupon it during recoil and having means returning it to normal length.

6. In a gun-carriage, a rod controlling the angle of elevation of thegun, automatically extending under abnormal loads of tension andshortening under abnormal loads of compression imposed upon it duringrecoil and having means returning it to normal length.

7. In a gun-carriage, a rod controlling the angle of elevation of thegun, automatically extending under abnormal loads of tension imposedupon it during recoil and having means returning it to normal lengthconsisting of initially-loaded springs.

8. In a gun-carriage, a rod controlling the angle of elevation of thegun, automatically extending under abnormal loads of tension imposedupon it during recoil and having means returning it to normal lengthconsisting1 of initially-loaded springs located in the ro 9. In agun-carriage, a rod controlling the angle of elevation of the gun,automatically extending under abnormal loads of tension and shorteningunder abnormal loads of compression imposed upon it during recoil andhaving means returning it to normal length consisting ofinitially-loaded springs which are additionally loaded by extension andby shortening of the rod.

10. In a gun-carriage, a rod controlling the angle of elevation of thegun, automatically changing its length under abnormal strains imposedduring recoil, and having a hydraulic press opposing such changes oflength.

11. In a gun-carriage, a rod controlling the angle of elevation of thegun, automatically changing its length under abnormal strains imposedduring recoil, and having a hydraulic press with initially-loaded valvesopposing such changes of length.

12. In a gun-carriage, a rod controlling the angle of elevation of thegun, automatically changing its length under abnormal strains imposedduring recoil, andhaving ahydraulic press opposing such changes oflength and initially-loaded springs restoring the rod to its normallength.

13. In a gun-carriage, a rod controlling the angle of elevation of thegun, automatically changing its length under abnormal strains imposedduring recoil,-and having ahydraulic press with initially-loaded valvesopposing 1 such changes of length and initially-loaded springs restoringthe rod to its normal length. 14. In a gun-carriage, a rod controllingthe angle of elevation of the gun, automatically changing its lengthunder abnormal strains imposed during recoil, and havin a hydraulicpress with initially-loaded va ves opposing such changes of length andinitiallyloaded springs restoring the rod to its normal length, saidpress also having asmall bypass permitting the rod to return to normallength under the action of the springs.

15. In agun-carriage, an elevating-rod controlling the angle ofelevation of the gun, changing its length under abnormal strains imposedduring recoil and having a plurality of initially-loaded springsconnecte d with the rod at different points in the length of the rod andjointly opposing such changes in length.

16. In a gun-carriage having a link system for lifting the gun to firingposition, a limiting-stop arresting the movement of the links, andadjustable to permit the angular position of the links to be changed fordifferent an les of elevation at which the gun is to be firerI.

17. In a gun-carriage having a link system for lifting the gun to firingposition and an adjustable limiting-stop determining the angularposition of the link system at time of firing, gun-elevating mechanismdetermining the angle of elevation of the gun, and working connectionsthrough which the positions of the gun-elevating mechanism and of thelimiting-sto are simultaneously adjusted.

18. n a gun-carriagf having a link system for raising the gun to ingposition and apiston lifting the gun through said link system, anadjustable limiting-stop arresting the upward motion of the pistonwhenthe link system has obtained the angular position desired for theparticular angle ofelevation at which the gun is to be fired.

19. In combination with an elevating guncarriage, a cylinder, a pistonworking in said cylinder to lift the gun tofiring position, andlimiting-stops arresting the upward movement of the piston, disposedsymmetrically with reference to the axis of the piston, and consistingof fixed threaded rods, and stopnuts on said rods.

20. In combination with an elevating guncarriage, a cylinder, a pistonworking in said cylinder to lift the gun to firing position,limiting-stops arresting the upward movement of the piston, disposedsymmetrically with reference to the axis of the piston, and the bufferscarried by thepiston striking against the limiting-stops and avoidingshock when the piston reaches the upper limit of its motion.

21. In combination with an elevating guncarriage having a link system toraise the gun to firing position, adjustable elevating-rods to determinethe angle of elevation of, the gun connecting said driving mechanismWith the at time of firing and adjustable limiting stopstopnuts.

nuts for determining the angular position of The foregoing specificationsigned this 11th the lmk system at time of firing; means for day ofApril, 1904. 5 simultaneously adjusting the elevating rods ALBERT H,EMERY. and limiting stop-nuts, consisting of suitable In presence ofiiving mechanism for adjusting the position 0. KNIGHT, Jr., of theelevating-rods, and shafting and gears .HERVEY, S. KNIGHT.

